links for 2011-05-23

"Robert Spearing, 44, and his wife had driven to Chicago all the way from the Province of Ontario just to see Oprah's Farewell Spectacular. But tragedy intervened! The day before the taping, he went to police and told them he'd been mugged by two men ("one African-American and one Hispanic," he said) who stole his tickets to the big show.

"They took him to a nearby hospital, where he was treated for some superficial wounds to his head. But things just didn't seem to add up (e.g. why would two violent criminals want to attend Oprah's Farewell Spectacular?), and after questioning the victim further, the cops suddenly had an Aha!™ Moment: Spearing had no tickets to Oprah's Farewell Spectacular. He never did! And he had no idea what he was going to tell his wife. So he made up the mugging story."

"'It's a bit odd,' Jagger told Rolling Stone. 'A different kind of record than what people would expect.' It's certainly a motley crew: one Stones frontman, one Eurythmics founder, one English soul singer, plus Bob Marley's youngest son and India's most famous film composer. But Jagger promised that Super Heavy's music is 'not all weird and strange'. Fans, he said, 'will find most of it accessible'.

"When the band lowered the Mothership from the rafters of the Capital Centre in Landover in 1977, the response was rapturous. Not only was it instantly stunning — it felt like a cosmic metaphor for the sense of possibility that followed the civil rights movement.

"That symbolism isn’t lost on the Smithsonian.

“'With large iconic objects like this, we can tap into . . . themes of movement and liberation that are a constant in African-American culture,' says Dwandalyn R. Reece, curator of music and performing arts for the museum. 'The Mothership as this mode of transport really fits into this musical trope in African American culture about travel and transit.'”

Race, Culture, and Identity in a Colorstruck World

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Racialicious is a blog about the intersection of race and pop culture. Check out our daily updates on the latest celebrity gaffes, our no-holds-barred critique of questionable media representations, and of course, the inevitable Keanu Reeves John Cho newsflashes.

Latoya Peterson (DC) is the Owner and Editor (not the Founder!) of Racialicious, Arturo García (San Diego) is the Managing Editor, Andrea Plaid (NYC) is the Associate Editor. You can email us at team@racialicious.com.